Route 66: 2010

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Trombone Shorty @ The Bluebird in Denver 12/29/11

,It's been awhile since I've been out here on the blog. One of my "goals" for 2012 is to get back on track with my writing and of course, my photography work, too.

2011 was a year of lots of live tunage for me...Yay! I LOVE live music. I had the pleasure of catching national acts, regional acts and homegrown acts as well. I was lucky enough to hang out with my brothers, (and sister) as they took the stage(s) to share their talent with the masses. Throughout the year, I caught Rock N Roll, Metal, New Age, Jazz, Blues, Celtic, Classical, Old World and Everything in between.

In deference to a colleague, I plan to refrain from blogging about shows that I an attending as a photographer first and fan second. For the following, I was Absolutely there as a fan & such, didn't have a rig with me, so not so much in the way of pix.

OK, now we're ready to roll...

This time out, Bobby & I saw a Great sold out show at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. Bluebird Theater Denver Dr. McCoy was supposed to attend, but was sadly a sicko..I mean a sickie, arrg was not healthy. Thursday, December 29 and it was time to Par Tay!

Even though I could use one word to sum up the show, and it would be Fanstical!!!, I'll do my best imitation of one what knows how ta tolk gud.
The Fox Street Allstars opened the show with a bang. Fox Street Allstars are a local Denver area band and really show the crowd a good time. While I heard influences such as Derek Trucks and some good ol' down home Suthern styles, and even a touch o the Blue Brothers thrown in. The band definitely was in their element and was having a good time.

Fox Street All Stars

The Fox Street boys got the house jumping and in a great groove. Bobby & I were already smiling a bopping a bit, just seconds into their first song. We all know that opening acts sometimes, (often), get a bum rap and in worse cases, fans and concert goers can be down right rude. This was definitely different & with good cause. These guys know how to have a good time and know how to share that with the audience.
The Band played the better part of an hour and were entertaining the entire time. I'll keep my eyes open for a chance to see them again and perhaps in a more "headlining" capacity. For now, if you get the chance, check out Fox Street All Stars. You WILL have fun! If you don't well, then you ain't tryin'! Fox Street Allstars

Now, on to the night's headliner; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Can you say, "Boo-Ya"! This show was Off The Hook!
Let's put this out there right now. Trombone Shorty is one Talented young man! He plays trombone, (uh, duh...), trumpet, (Extremely Well), sings, (Very Well), and even plays the drums. In between all of that, he dances, works hard & plays hard.

Trombone Shorty

I was lucky enough to see Trombone Shorty & boys a couple years ago in Telluride, CO with my boys Marc & Hans. I was impressed with the energy back then and Very impressed with the price...it was a "free in the park" show. I was So impressed that I knew if I ever got the chance to see him/them again, I'd have to go for it and even pay. Well, lemme tell ya what...it was WELL worth the price of admission!
The band hit the stage a bit after 10. They Rocked & Rolled, Jazzed & Bluesed, Funked & Souled their way through about a 2 hour set and had the crowd on it's feet, (well, we woulda stood up for it even if there Had been seats), for the entire time. I can honestly say that I haven't had quite that much fun at a show in a long time.

Trombone Shorty

When it comes to "shakin' my groove thang", I'm afraid I am terminally Caucasian. These guys are so fun & awesome that yes, even I was dancing around a bit, (OK, head bobbin' and toe tappin anyway). Trombone Shorty was channeling the great Jazz and Funk players and at any given time throughout the show, you got the feeling you were partying with the likes of James Brown, Cab Calloway, Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton & P Funk, ("bow wow wow, yippy yo yippy yay..." and any number of cool cats, even had a touch of Louie Armstrong. Of course, it's all wrapped up in a you man from NOLA. Trombone Shorty and the band have two recent full length discs out and they played much of both of them. For Me, the biggest highlight, (there were several), was one of my favorite songs and one of my new theme songs. This one is "Right to Complain". Do yourself a Huge favor and check it out on YouTube or better yet, Buy The Disc! Without swiping the entire lyrics, it's goes a bit like this "...now you say you want change, if you won't change yourself, you got no right to complain." Hmm, Imagine That. If you ain't gonna make a change, then you shouldn't oughta be shootin your mouth off. What a concept.

Trombone Shorty

There were other highlights as well, such as the "Back it Up" segment where the band took turns, well, backin' it up NOLA style. The boys have some dancing talent as well and Big D was down right Funny! As Shorty put it, Big D was backin' it up like a dump truck. Excellent!
The final "segment" of the show was a chance for Shorty to show his skills on yet another instrument as he moved to the drums. As impressive as that was, it was way cool that the entire rest of the band moved "over 1" and played other instruments. Everyone in the band is multi talented. Oh Yeah, I nearly forgot, yet another highlight was the fact that the singers in Both acts actually...wait for it...SANG! No Cookie Monster vocals here!.

Bobby put things into perspective on the way home, so long as he keeps his head in the game, he'll be around for a Long time. The Kid's got talent AND he knows how to get & keep a Great band with him as well.

Here's my hope for Your 2012. I hope you get a chance to head out, experience some Great live music and you will Support Live Music whenever you can. That means, National, International, Regional and Yes, Even LOCAL Music. It's Good for the Soul!